A Friend
by Miss Mila
Summary: Rick Castle gets an unexpected late night visit from the one, the only Kate Beckett. He finds out what's bugging her, and we'll see what Martha and Alexis have to say on the matter. Please RR, it's too late for me to come up with a better summary.


**Disclaimer: ****I don't own any of the Castle characters, places, themes, etc. No copyright infringement intended. **

**Author's Note: ****Hey everyone! The first Castle episode I watched was "Nanny McDead", and I've been hooked ever since. For those of you who haven't read my work before, know that hurt/comfort/romance is really my thing, so you'll be seeing a lot of that. I love writing humor, too. And Castle is hilarious; it's set quite a high standard for me. I AM a Castle/Beckett shipper, and here we go with my first C/B fic. Slightly AU/OOC-ish. **

* * *

_Nikki Heat stepped out of the black SUV and walked up the stairs of the old building. Every step of hers was laced with confidence. _

_She walked over to the ominous looking man in black, and her eyes flashed dangerously. She resisted the urge to slap him. _

"_Where is she?" _

"_Who?"_

"_The girl- don't play dumb!" _

"_I don't know what you're talking about." The man said as he looked down on the small yet tough detective with a contemptuous glare. _

"_Oh the hell you don't!" _

A knock on the door startled Rick Castle out of his two fingered typing. He looked up at the clock, which read 11:30pm. Alexis and Mrs. Rogers had left a few minutes ago to go to an art museum opening, and Castle had taken advantage of the quiet and tried to work on his newest book. Surely this wasn't them coming back for something…

Saving his work, Castle walked over to the door, wondering who it could be at this hour.

He opened the door and was surprised to see Kate Beckett standing in front of him, soaking wet.

"Beckett." He said with surprise.

Kate pushed passed him into the room. "As an author I'd think you'd have a better response." She said through her teeth.

Castle shook his head and brought her a towel. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I drop by for a visit?" She asked, taking the towel with a grateful look.

"Let me go get you a robe and I can throw your clothes in the dryer."

She nodded and headed for the door he pointed out for her, while he found one of his smaller robes for her.

It was only after she had the robe wrapped around herself and was drinking hot chocolate that he asked again. "Kate, why are you here?"

She sighed and put her mug down, turning to look at him. "I was taking a drive when…my car broke down. I walked around for a bit when it started raining, and I couldn't think of anywhere else to go, so I came here…"

Judging by the look on his face, she could tell he didn't believe her. But he didn't say anything else.

"So…what are you doing?" She asked, tucking her legs underneath herself.

"Just trying to write a new chapter of the novel." He said, flashing her a smile.

"And how's that working out for you?"

Castle frowned. "Well, you know…not well."

"Mhm."

There was a comfortable pause and then Castle said, "Beckett…you know you can tell me if anything's wrong."

Beckett swallowed and nodded.

"Then why don't you tell me what's _really _going on?"

Kate shook her head and her hair fell into her eyes. Castle's eyes softened as he realized that a tear was falling down her face.

He moved off the armchair and came toward her on the couch.

"Hey." He said quietly, putting an arm around her shoulder.

She quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"You are NOT fine, Beckett." He said gently. She buried her head in his shoulder and silent tears streamed down her face.

A surprised Castle held her close, rubbing her back. "Sssshhh, I'm here. I'm here."

Castle was astounded. Kate never cried. She never showed weakness like that. What was making her act like that? Or better yet, who?

"Kate. I can't help you unless you tell me what's going on." Castle said quietly, carefully sitting her up.

"I'm a cop. I should've been able to take care of it myself."

"You ARE a cop, Kate. But you're a _person _first. Who was it?"

She looked up at him and smiled warily. "I thought I could trust him, y'know?"

Castle waited patiently.

"I thought he was amazing."

"Mmm."

"What?"

"Expect the worse. You shouldn't assume guys are amazing."

She almost smiled. "He was nice. We went out and he would never push too far. So he asked me to move in with him a week ago. I didn't know that much about his life, but so far he'd been so sweet and just amazing."

"Ooooh, you didn't do it, did ya? You did! Perfect 'don't go through that door' moment." He said, trying to lighten the tone in the room.

"Yep. And I was the stupid chick who did exactly that. I went through that door."

"And…" He prompted gently.

"It was fine until now."

"What did he do?"

"Cheated, mostly." She said simply. "I found out and he started yelling at _me, _cursing at me. Kicked me out. Thankfully not too much of my stuff was over there."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "I don't know why I reacted how I did. I guess I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Don't worry about that. You reacted just fine."

"You're not like him, are you?"

"Never, Kate. Never."

She paused for a second before asking, "Will this be a part of Nikki Heat's life?"

"Not if you don't want it to be."

"Thanks."

"Though it would add to the emotional not-hooker theme…" He said jokingly.

"Castle!" She said, throwing a pillow at him.

"First you don't want to be a hooker…now you do?" He asked in a mock-skeptical tone.

"Rick Castle, if I come over there…"

"Oooh, I'm scared."

She smiled and sipped her hot chocolate.

"Kate…if you don't want to go back to your place just yet, you're welcome to stay here. We have a guest bedroom."

Kate smiled. "You know what? I'm alright."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "Thanks to you."

"Glad I could help, Heat."

Kate slapped his arm playfully. "But seriously. Thank you. And for…" She gestured around to the room.

He flashed her a smile. "No problem, Kate. Now, why don't I go get you your clothes?"

After changing back into her clothes, she grabbed her coat. "Seriously, I needed it."

Castle gave her a quick hug and helped her into the coat. "Until tomorrow."

"Night, Castle."

"If you change your mind…I'll be writing."

"I know."

* * *

Kate smiled and walked out the door, looking back and nodding.

She was about to exit the building when she ran into Alexis and Martha.

"Oh, Detective Beckett." Alexis said politely, surprise evident in her voice. "Hello."

"Hey I was just, um…"

"Oh, no need to explain dear." Martha interrupted.

Kate mentally rolled her eyes and said, "I was just wrapping up a case. Just leaving. Goodbye."

Alexis slowly nodded. "O…kay. I guess we'll see you later."

"Night."

"Night."

* * *

A few minutes after Kate's departure the door opened again and the familiar voices of his mother and daughter got closer.

"Hey, how was the museum?"

"Richard dear, guess who we just ran into."

_Oh crap. _

Castle opened his mouth to say he knew who it was, but Martha interrupted him.

"That lovely detective friend of yours. Kate Beckett."

"Really, mother?" Castle said as he helped his mom out of her coat. He rolled his eyes at his daughter.

"Quite and interesting woman."

"I agree."

"And very polite."

"Ask it, Mother."

"Why was she here?" Martha asked, eyes glittering with curiosity.

"A case. And we were talking."

Martha sighed. "How bo-oring."

"Well, it's the truth, and the truth is boring."

Martha rolled her eyes and left the room.

Castle sat in his chair and resumed typing. "Ask it, Alexis."

"Why was she _really _here?"

Castle shrugged. "She needed a friend."

Alexis nodded. That answer was good enough for her. "That's nice, Dad."

And she was right. It _was _nice.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, what did you think? Before you review (please do) I wanted to say this: I ****know**** it's a bit OOC (Alright, maybe a bit more than "a bit"), but that was kinda the point. I mean, Beckett wouldn't break down like this, but if she would, this is how **_**I **_**would imagine it. I ****do ****however think that Martha and Alexis were in character, and Castle was, in some areas more than others. Thanks for reading! Would you mind leaving a review? **


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